Towlines – December 2010

This new addition to the Itchen fleet has been renamed Wyestorm and is already proving popular in the port. Built in 1999, as the Yenikale by Uzmar Denzcilik of Izmir in Turkey to a popular Robert Allan design, the tug is an exceedingly agile vessel powered by two Caterpillar 3508B main engines generating 2,100 bhp to achieve a bollard pull of 30 tons. Itchen Marine is delighted with the new acquisition and intend to further improve its versatility with the addition of a towing winch. The tug replaces the Wyeguard (ex: Afor Wen), which has been sold to Jenkins Marine of Poole and renamed Handfast.

Smit Ireland, one of a series of twin screw harbour tugs built in 1979, has been sold by Smit Harbour Towage to Buchanan Renewables of Liberia. The tug was built by De Merwede shipyard at Hardinxveld in the Netherlands and is powered by a pair of 6 cylinder Werkspoor 6FCHD240 diesel engines with a total output of 1,820 bhp. A vessel of 28.42m in length, with a beam of 8.52m, the tug has a bollard pull of 27 tons and a maximum speed of 12.5 knots. The new owner is involved with power generation using a renewable and sustainable supply of timber and wood chips.

The tug Intrepid B, formerly operated by D Little Engineering Ltd of South Wales, has now changed hands and is being marketed by the Dunberry Marine Group bearing the name Northern Solan. A single screw tug of 27m in length, the vessel was the result of a clever trawler conversion carried out by MacDuff Shipyards in 2002. The vessel is powered by a 1,850bhp Mitsubishi S12R main engine giving it a bollard pull of 25tons. A high forecastle, a broad work-deck aft, and a powerful 140 tons/m crane has in the past enabled the tug to undertake a wide range of offshore operations.

Fairmount Marine has announced an increase in the bollard pull performance for their ocean going tugs Fairmount Sherpa and Fairmount Summit. Both vessels recently passed their first special survey and consequently a new bollard pull test was performed. The certified bollard pull for Fairmount Sherpa is now 208 tons (formerly 200 tons) and Fairmount Summit is 204 tons (formerly 198 tons). Fairmount claim these improvements show that the company’s investment in a high quality maintenance programme pays off, even in times of economic difficulties.